Lonely Petals
by karkashan
Summary: AU. It was the end, it chose to save itself. He should have died. Now he is alone in another world, an earlier time, with no memory and a bad case of deja vu. Oh, and he accidentally ends up romancing the Inuzaka head's daughter. NarutoxTsume
1. Chapter 1 Unknown Soldier

Lonely Petals, Chapter One: Unknown Soldier

"_Every time I hear the phrase 'Insanity is relative' I automatically think they're talking about my cousin who is locked up in an asylum. The voice in my head agrees with me." - Unknown_

"Well brat, it seems as if we're royally screwed."

Naruto glanced over towards the bars of the mental cage that trapped the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, rolling his eyes as he responded sarcastically, "No, you think? What on earth gave you that idea? Would it have something to do with the lower portion of my body getting completely blown off? Or the fact that I don't have any arms anymore?"

"Actually, the fact that you're _bleeding. _You're almost out of blood, you know."

"Yeah, kinda figured that." Naruto sighed and crossed his mental arms, "I can't believe I'm going to die because of a freaking exploding tag accident. That's so freaking gay it's flamingly so."

"I agree completely, brat, which is why I'm going to screw with you."

Naruto glared suspiciously at the fox, "And how are you going to do that?"

The fox's tone was similar to the tone Iruka had often taken when explaining a concept to an exceptionally slow student, like Naruto for instance, although Kyuubi's was a little bit more mocking and mean spirited than the chuunin's had been. "I'm going to attempt to send us to another dimension."

"Again, how are you going to do that? And why would that screw with me?"

The fox's grin turned malicious as it continued speaking, "Well, for one, a part of the Seal was destroyed, and since my chakra partially healed the wound in a very odd way, it altered the Seal's fundamental characteristics. And by going to another dimension, I will automatically be freed, and as a bonus the process will most likely kill you."

"It'll what?!"

"Don't worry, it'll be very, very painful when you die."

"Thanks," Naruto drawled. "That makes me feel so much better about the whole situation."

-------------- ------------------- --------------------

The next thing Naruto knew, his was lying face down in a rocky river bank, feeling strange, and wondering why he had arms and legs again all of a sudden.

Shaking his head to try to physically clear away his confusion, Naruto crawled to the slow moving river on his hands and knees. He winced every time his left elbow touched the ground, as a small wound had somehow made its way there without his prior knowledge.

Gently reaching down with his right hand, Naruto grabbed a small handful of water and began cleaning the wound. He patted down his coat pockets, until he came across the first aid kit that was already there. He took out a bandage, removed his coat, and began to wrap the wound.

After that was finished, he glanced down at the water, and was slightly surprised at what he saw reflected in the water's surface. His appearance was slightly different now. His hair was black, his face considerably less square in the jaw, and his eyes....his eyes were now an interesting shade of orange.

Naruto took off his shoes and put his feet into the cool water, relaxing and staring off into the clouds. He pondered about what he would do now, before blinking in shock when realizing that the only thing he could remember off the top of his head was that his name was Na...something. That and the weird feeling that he didn't really care too much for multi-tailed foxes....

So he was alone in the middle of nowhere with no clear recollection of, well, anything, his eyes had were a weird color, and he had a wound near his left elbow that was itching like crazy.

Oh, what a wonderful day.

Hearing a small splash, Naruto looked upstream and discovered that a body was floating down the river.

He scrambled to his feet and rushed into the middle of the water. Making sure to be careful, Naruto gently guided the body of a ninja out of the water and onto shore. Once there he turned the body over with the utmost care so that he could see if the person was still alive.

She was, but she was also unconscious. And not only that, but Naruto also personally thought that she was beautiful, her facial tattoos only making her more so.

Naruto glanced up at the setting sun. He was going to have to find some shelter quickly if he wanted to help the young woman fend off the reaper for yet another day.

Gently reaching down, he picked her up and carried her bridal style through the woods, making his way towards a large cliff face in the hope there was a cave nearby.

-------------- ---------------------------- -----------

The first thing that Tsume noticed upon once again joining the land of the living was that she had been wrapped in three or four blankets, and that her clothes were no longer on her body. She tried to jolt in surprise, but she found that she was too exhausted to do even that.

"Please don't try to move around too much," a deep masculine voice told her, "you're lucky to even be alive. Do you feel a large amount of pain in any particular part of your body?"

"Everywhere, though that might be too specific," Tsume said as she turned her head as much as her aching neck would allow to glance at her (apparent) savior. His black hair was very smooth, yet his overall appearance was very rugged, like something had chewed him up and spit him out. And his eyes were a curious shade of..."Why are your eyes orange?" she asked him.

The man chuckled, "If I knew who I was, I would probably be able to tell you which one of my parents contributed the most to the determining of my eye color, but since I can't remember jack except my apparent ninja skills and that my name started with 'Na', I couldn't really give you a definitive answer, even if I wanted to."

If she wasn't in so much pain, Tsume would've arched an eyebrow. "You're rather quick to trust, don't you think?"

The man shrugged, "Well, considering that due to my memory loss, I've only 'existed' for less than a day, it doesn't really matter to me all that much what you do with that information."

"Why did you save me?"

The man smiled charmingly at her, "And leave a pretty girl like you to die? Not on my watch."

Tsume blushed slightly. She'd been called terms like 'hot', 'sexy', or 'do-able' by some of the more open lechers of Konoha, but no one had ever called her a 'pretty girl' before. And no, her father didn't count. He was a freak who kept on calling her overly embarrassing names in public for no other reason than that he could.

Noticing Tsume's blush, the man chuckled lightly, "Would it be easier for you if I told you I had an incurable Hero Complex?"

Tsume smirked lightly, despite the pain it cause. "Wouldn't that be a lie, though? Since you don't even know your full name, let alone how you use to act."

The man laughed out loud for a little bit, before continuing the conversation, "Point taken, miss...?"

"Tsume, Inuzaka Tsume. Chuunin of Konohagakure."

The man nodded his head, acting as if he understood completely. "I have no idea what a 'Hidden Leaf Village' is, but I'll take your word for it."

Tsume shot the man a deadpan look, "And you know what a chuunin is?"

The man blinked rapidly in surprise. "Actually," he said, "for some odd reason, yeah, I kinda do know what that is. It goes genin, chuunin, tokubetsu jounin, jounin, kage, right?"

Tsume nodded, "Yeah, well, for the five major villages it's true, anyway. Do you think I can go back to sleep now? It kinda hurts to breathe."

"Sure thing," the man replied. "And while you're dreaming, try to see if you can come up with a name for me. I got nothing here."

"How about...Nagataka..." Tsume said before she fell asleep.

"Everlasting filial duty?" asked the newly christened Nagataka. "That's kinda hard to do when I don't remember who my parents are, you know. Though I have to admit, there were worse choices she could have stuck me with."

-------- ----------- ----------

TBC

AN: Yes, I know, another multichap fic that I'll probably never finish. I know what ya'll think about that. This time though, no promises. I'll try to update, but then again I almost never update...well...anything.


	2. Chapter 2 So Cold

Lonely Petals, Chapter Two: So Cold

"_I hate, therefore I am. It's nothing personal, I just hate you." Unknown_

Nagataka tapped his foot as he slowly turned the fish he had caught over the open fire just on the inside of the small cave. "When did you become a chuunin, Tsume?"

The bedridden Inuzaka glanced at the man she had named, "Why do you want to know?"

The amnesiac shrugged, "Curiosity, mostly. But also because I'm very, very bored. So are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to hazard a guess?"

Tsume grumbled a bit, "It was around two or so years ago, I was thirteen at the time."

"So you're fifteen now?" asked Nagataka.

Tsume nodded slightly, "Although I'll turn sixteen in the middle of August." She glanced longingly at the fish that were cooking. "Um...are those...you know..."

Nagataka smirked slightly, "Are you that hungry, Tsume?" He heard an answering stomach growl, as well as an embarrassed expression on his fellow cave-dweller's face. "I'll take that as a yes. Do you think you can sit up, or do you want me to feed you?"

Tsume growled softly as she struggled to sit up, "I think I'd rather starve than have you feed me, Nagataka."

The black haired man smiled in amusement as he assisted the female chuunin in her attempt to sit up. "Is that so?" he said. "Why do I not believe you?"

Tsume's stomach growling was all the answer anyone needed for that question.

* * *

Nagataka smiled softly as he watched Tsume fall once again into a deep and dreamless sleep. Seeing her shiver, he reached out and gently tucked the blankets he had wrapped her in tighter to her frame.

A cold gust of air blew into the cave, one that seemed to chill the very bones of his body. Glancing out of the entrance to the cave, he noticed the trees that were swaying slightly in the wind. The leaves rustled in the orange light of the setting sun, almost musical in the way they rubbed against each other.

That was when he noticed that the cold gust of air that had assaulted him had blown in from a different direction than the way the trees were swaying.

"For some odd reason," said Nagataka, "I'm feeling a little bit of deja vu."

Twirling one of Tsume's kunai's around his finger, he casually strolled out from the mouth of the cave. He smirked slightly as he felt he sensed someone glaring murderously at him.

The leaves of the trees started to quiet down, but not due to the wind dying down, as that force of nature remained at a constant speed. Instead, a thin layer of frost started to envelope the trees, choking their movement as if from within.

Wasting no time, Nagataka threw the kunai to his left, a puff of smoke and a kawarimi no jutsu log substitution confirming his suspicions. Not one to sit around and wait for an attack, he used chakra to launch himself through the underbrush towards his attacker, his hands flying through seals as he did so.

"_Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Style: Raging Waves)!_" he thought as water rushed like a raging torrent from his mouth towards his assailant.

However, the still unknown attacker was quick to freeze the water style jutsu before it had even touched them. Unfortunately for that one, Nagataka used this distraction to his advantage by leaping over the attack after it had been performed, kicking off a tree with one foot, and tackling the ice user to the ground.

The attacker tried to fight back, but Nagataka was stronger and quicker than they were, and was able to, after a brief struggle, hold the former assailant captive.

"Now tell me," Nagataka whispered in the ear of the dark haired woman wearing a mask that lay pinned beneath him, "what's a nice lady like you attacking a couple of wayward travelers?"

"I can't let you," panted the woman, "get any closer to the village. If the Mist were to find out where we are..."

"Is that some kind of drug cartel or something?" asked Nagataka.

"You don't know what the Mist Village is?" the woman asked incredulously.

"Enlighten me," Nagataka drawled.

"It is," a deep male voice said from behind Nagataka and the woman, "one of the five great shinobi villages. For some reason or another, the Mist has been committing genocide against those who have kekkai genkai."

"I see," Nagataka said. He looked back down at the woman before turning her around to face him. Taking off her mask, he was pleased to discover that she was quite the attractive woman. "In that case, my lady ice princess, I will be needing some sort of payment to let you go, and without telling anyone about your village."

The woman glared at him, "Since you seem to have me at a disadvantage, I guess I have no choice. What do you want then? Money? Power?"

Nagataka smirked, before leaning down and gently kissing the woman on the lips. "Not much," he said, "just something by which to inflate my male ego."

The woman he had kissed promptly slapped him, pushed him off of her, stood up, and ran away while sporting a large blush.

"You have a way with women, mister...?" said the silver haired man who had decided to reveal his appearance.

Nagataka smirked in response. "It's just my natural charm, I think. And it's Nagataka."

The silver haired man crossed his arms as he leaned against a tree. "You think it's your natural charm? You mean you're not sure about that yet?"

Nagataka shrugged, "I really don't know who I am, as I seem to be suffering a bad case of amnesia right about now."

A single eyebrow rose. "If that's true, how do you know your name?"

"I don't," replied Nagataka, "Tsume gave it to me."

The man sighed with relief, "So she did survive that fall. You have my thanks, Nagataka."

Nagataka waved his hand as if to brush away the comment, "No need to mention, Konoha Ninja Person."

"I would assume that's a very unsubtle way of asking me what my name is, then?" asked the silver haired man in an amused tone.

"You would assume correctly then," Nagataka said with a smile.

The man held out his hand, and Nagataka shook it. "The name's Sakumo. Hatake Sakumo."

* * *

TBC

AN: Yeah...been a while, huh?

You know how it goes, real life stuff. Not going to elaborate, as it would take more words than what this whole fic has got at this point in time.

Hope ya'll enjoy the chapter.


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